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Bam! Just when you think that you’ve settled into a nice routine and that Survivor Analyst Jim Van Nest is lining up just about perfectly with your opinions, along come David and Kim to ruin everything. That’s right. We’re here as your recappers for the latest episode of Survivor, which means that we’re totally rooting for Boston Rob this season. Yes, we know he’s not even playing.

As anyone who has read our recaps versus Jim’s will know, we don’t always agree on the players in the game. It takes all kinds to analyze a reality game show. So, without further ado, here is the way we see the power rankings for the remaining players in the game.

1) Sophie – Coach is not in control of this game, regardless of what he might want you to believe. Sophie has been quietly manipulating the votes throughout the game, letting other players sit in the limelight so that she is not viewed as a villain for pushing people out the door. Her only problem is going to be that others might view her as a hanger on, and if it came down to a vote, they might not choose her for that reason. So far, though, Sophie has played a masterful game. She’s also kept Albert (and others) in check when they were feeling like going off the reservation.

2) Albert – Effectively, Albert is 1A to Sophie’s #1. We’re in a situation where he doesn’t want to rock the boat too much, because he could be perceived as a threat. Additionally, he’s gotten twitchy at various points during the game when it hasn’t really been justified. He’s getting to the point where he can look to take some control and possibly make a move, but up to now, he’s let Sophie take the lead when he’s about to make a big decision.

3) Coach – Since Coach is recognizable, it’s been easy to play him up in the editing both as hero and villain, and thereby give the impression that he’s got some measure of control in the game. At the beginning of the season, he was radioactive. Edna was the only person who talked to him after the initial competition. He was called out as a temporary player (note: both players who were believed to be “temporary” are still in the game. The one who called them that is long gone). Then, Coach is on the overmatched team that struggles to compete in physical challenges. His tribe looks like it could be in trouble at the merge, but Cochran flips. And the instant he believes he has all the power, he becomes unbearable. He’s smug. He’s a faux man of God (it’s true, Brandon). He fancies himself a guru. He’s still the same old Coach. This is the lipstick on a pig scenario. Don’t let the editing fool you.

4) Rick – The Marlboro Man shows up occasionally in the game just to remind you that he’s there. We’re not sure his image hasn’t just been digitally inserted into the footage. He’s been extremely under the radar, which is a good approach to take in the game of Survivor; however, we have to think that the producers would have edited in more footage of him if he was going to be a Survivor winner. Right? RIGHT?!!

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